Quiet Moments
by Coneflower Adams
Summary: Quiet moments between Hiccup and Astrid...
1. Rest

The house is quiet, the sounds of the day giving way to peace and slumber. Hiccup watches the fire in the hearth. Bright yellow and orange flames lick the air, the burning logs crackle. It's soothing, almost mesmerizing, and it calms his weary mind.

Footsteps approach and stop beside his chair. He glances up to find Astrid, changed in her nightgown, standing there. She looks as tired as his bones feel. Being a mother is a never-ending task. A baby can't sustain itself. A mother is its life source, the main caretaker that tends to every need. Her baby must be on her mind every moment of the day, and even when it's in the care of another just for a little while, she doesn't escape the worry of the baby's safety.

Hiccup understands this considerable weight. Being chief of such a populous village as Berk, the needs of both human and dragons are on his mind continuously. But at the forefront, _she_ is the one he worries about the most. Tending to their child, managing a household, insisting to continue her duties as the wife of the chief and a dragon rider – he knows she carries a load that he wishes she would lighten.

He grasps her hand without a word, gently guiding her to rest on his lap. Astrid slings her legs over the arm of the chair, snuggling her cheek into the soft wool tunic covering Hiccup's chest. He holds her close just as he does in his heart.

"I love you," he murmurs into her hair, leaving a tender kiss in the blonde strands.

"I love you," her sleepy voice echoes.

The quiet envelopes them once more. Hiccup absently smooths his palm along Astrid's leg, the motion more calming than watching the fire dance. He needs this; they both need this peaceful time where the world outside – and even inside the house – doesn't need them. Where only they can exist and recoup in the arms of the one who loves them most.

They stay this way for a long stretch. Astrid is growing heavier on his person, and Hiccup softly calls out to her. No answer. He smiles against her head that still rest on his chest.

Hiccup slips an arm under Astrid's knees, and as careful as possible, he carries her to their bedroom, hoping for a few hours of sleep before the baby cries out to be fed; before the world calls out to them again.


	2. Of Braids and Sketches

Rain patters upon the rooftop, filling the quiet in the room with a pleasant white noise. Night has set in, and the Haddocks are enjoying the peace from the busyness that the daytime usually consisted of with running a village.

The chieftain and his wife are both perched on their bed, companionable silence surrounding them. Their little one is tucked in her bassinet, a tiny fist curled next to her head. Astrid resides behind her husband, her fingers caught up in his hair. It's not as wild as it used to be now that his hair has grown to his shoulders.

Astrid works on the strands, binding one strand over another until she is at the end. She wraps a tie around the thin tuff at the end of a braid and smiles at her handiwork.

Playing with Hiccup's hair has always relaxed her. The first time she'd ever combed her fingers through it was not long before they moved to The Edge. One night it was just the two of them in the Great Hall. Hiccup was enthralled in a book and Astrid was bored but not wishing to leave for home just yet. She smirked to herself at the thought that Hiccup would look cute with some braids in that wild mop of his. Of course, a blush followed that she was thankful Hiccup didn't notice.

" _What're you doing?" he'd asked as she began weaving the fine hairs._

" _Nothing, just go back to reading."_

And he did without a second's thought. Much later, when they'd finally got over dancing around their feelings for each other, Hiccup admitted on that night he'd become so distracted by her playing with his hair, he couldn't concentrate on reading (and didn't want to, really). He sat there staring down at the book taking in every touch and tug from her.

Astrid peeks over her husband's shoulder. "What're you working on?"

"This." Hiccup holds up his notebook.

Astrid gasps in awe. A sketch of her holding their baby girl is skillfully drawn on the parchment paper. "Hiccup, it's beautiful. When did you do this?"

"Earlier today while you were rocking Ester to sleep."

She hadn't noticed.

Wetness builds up at the rims of Astrid's eyes, but she blinks it away. Her sappy emotions get the best of her these days, and she battles tears when she's joyful or sad now. She presses her front to Hiccup's back, wrapping him in a hug, and rest her chin on his shoulder. He turns his head to kiss her temple.

It's moments like these that she lives for nowadays. The simple act of sitting on a bed, and an evening filled with braids and sketches and a sleeping babe, with the one person she wouldn't trade for the world.


End file.
